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Home / Kapiti News / Sport

Standing ovation after tight final for Waikanae's AFC U13 soccer team

Kapiti News
2 Oct, 2020 01:25 AM4 mins to read

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The winning U13 team.

The winning U13 team.

Waikanae AFC's mighty U13 soccer team had a season that will be long remembered, writes Monique Engelen.

In a season made all the more challenging by a global pandemic, Waikanae's AFC's premier U13 team, the Osos Poderosos (Mighty Bears in Spanish) played the game of the season against Stop Out in Petone in the Wellington competition.

Bernardo Neil, voted Waikanae AFC's Coach of the Year, took up training the group of 15 boys in the B grade level.

This is the first time many of the boys had played on a full size senior pitch with full sized goals.

Faced with the delays from Covid-19 alert level changes, the boys started twice weekly training in early May.

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The team started their winning streak in June when challenging Western Suburbs at Ascot Park.

The 5-3 win was a taste of things to come, as they swept through the grade unbeaten, conceding only nine goals in six games, scoring 37 in the process.

Progressing to the next level, Osos Poderosos continued their rampant form taking out the next five games, this time conceding just seven goals to 26 scored.

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Unbeaten in their 11 regular season games with 63 goals scored against 16 conceded the team now found themselves in the knockout competition for the ultimate prize.

Their quarter-final match against Karori was perhaps their first true test against the second placegetters in the A grade.

With Waikanae leading 4-2 at half-time Karori clawed back to level at 4-4 to truly test the levels of composure and resilience of the team.

With minutes remaining and the lads sticking to the game plan, striker Lucas Lambert managed to calmly slot the winning goal to advance Osos Poderosos to the semifinal against an unbeaten Lower Hutt team at Jim Cooke Park.

With Waikanae sticking to the game plan of an expansive brand of football, Lower Hutt presented a different challenge in the semifinal using their sheer speed on attack.

Waikanae however retained their composure and managed to adapt to the threat posed.

Growing in strength as the game progressed the Osos Poderosos ran out 5-2 winners and sealed a well-deserved final spot in U13 Premier Cup game against Stop Out.

The final match saw more than 60 supporters travelling to support the boys with tension sizzling through the air.

The scoreboard clocked up two expertly executed shots by Lambert within 20 minutes, only to have a counter shot delivered just before half-time.

The boys absorbed a barrage of attacks by Stop Out in the start of the second half, with Jackson Templer deflecting a great many shots on goal and when getting through, keeper Ryan Engelen sending the ball back to centre field.

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The game was on a knife edge until Isaiah Story chipped the keeper to score in the crowded goal box.

With confidence with the score on the board, the boys played some great passing football to deliver their final goal with Cooper Cotterill drawing both defenders and then the keeper, finally laying off to Drew Hedge for his delivering kick into goal to bring the score to 4-2 nearing full-time.

Stop Out, however, kept their heads high and continued the battle, managing to get a high ball into the back of the Waikanae net in the closing minute of the game.

The full-time whistle calling the 4-3 win for Waikanae AFC saw the boys receiving a standing ovation from all the spectators as they exited the field.

To not only being unbeaten for the season, but to win every single game against the best teams in the Wellington region, saw them bringing home the three cups, two for back to back league competitions and the Premier U13 Cup.

Coach Bernardo Neil said, "These boys, what they brought to the team was unity, like a family, which was the biggest thing I enjoyed this year.

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"They really deserved the wins, and really played well."

Waikanae AFC club president and acting junior convener Charlie Sturmann is incredibly proud of the boys, saying "this team is one of the most successful junior teams the club has seen" and he is excited to see their success spread into next year.

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